Right Royal Welcome for HM the Queen

Hundreds turned out to give Her Majesty The Queen a royal welcome to the Isle of Wight on Wednesday 25 July.

Clear blue skies also greeted the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who arrived at Trinity Landing in Cowes aboard the motor yacht ‘Leander’ to a 21-gun salute fired from the Royal Yacht Squadron.

The royal couple, who last visited the Island in 2004, were enjoying the last day of their Diamond Jubilee Tour in the region.

Ashore, they were met by the Lord-Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight, Major General Martin White, and heard a specially-composed song performed by pupils at Cowes Primary School.

Her Majesty also unveiled a plaque to officially open the town’s new RNLI lifeboat station and then met local charities at Cowes Yacht Haven, including Sail Training organisations, the Island Youth Water Activities Centre, Cowes Sea Cadet Corps, The Maritime Volunteer Service, The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, The Sea Scouts, The RYA’s “On Board” Project, United Kingdom Sailing Academy and Cowes Sailability.

A hamper of locally-produced foods and products was handed to the royal couple by chef Robert Thompson, and a specially commissioned glass bowl was presented by Timothy Harris, Master Glassmaker at Isle of Wight Studio Glass.